Blmtn institutes liquor license moratorium

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:42:13 CSTBy: Lee Strubinger

New restaurant or liquor licenses for Downtown Bloomington will NOT be granted to any applicants by City Council until the middle of next year, giving council the time to draft a new enforcement plan. Aldermen voted unanimously to instate a license moratorium set to expire on May 13th when newly elected Alderman take office. Alderman Robert Fazzini says along with the moratorium comes a change in Downtown Bloomington's tone. He says the Council is in better synch with the liquor commission...

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"I think the liquor commission has now been given pretty straight forward direction as to what the council wants, and I I suspect that we'll have very few times where the liquor commission's recommending something that we don't, and we've had too many of those in the past."
Fazzini says he expects to see recommendations from City staff about more strict downtown enforcement in the future.
The adopted moratorium has a few exceptions. Holders of existing licenses will be able to approach the Council to create a new license including ownership change or relocation.
The Council also approved a written agreement with the Miller Park Zoological Society defining each group's role with the Zoo. The agreement shifts Zoological responsibilities from operations, like the gift shop, to more fundrasing. Bloomington Director of Parks and Recreation John Kennedy says it's good to recognize the partnership in writing...

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"It was determined that there's a lot of past history that's gone, so it was a good idea to spell out the roles, rules and reponsibilities so we're all able to meet expectation on both sides of this partnership."
Kennedy says the Zoological society wants to become a larger fundraising entity aimed at getting bigger donations.